Traders on the floor of the NYSE
Source: NYSE
U.S. stock futures fell Monday night following a week during which higher interest rates kept investor sentiment in check.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped 88 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.3%, and Nasdaq-100 futures pulled back by 0.2%. U.S. markets were closed Monday due to the Presidents Day holiday.
The Dow fell 0.1% last week, marking its third straight weekly decline. The S&P 500 slid for a second consecutive week, losing 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite bucked the trend, rising 0.6%.
Those moves came as traders grappled with hotter-than-expected inflation data, which pushed Treasury yields to levels not seen since November. Traders are worried that stubborn inflation will lead the Federal Reserve to keep rates higher for longer — which could tip the economy into a recession.
“We believe a recession is virtually inevitable, but we do not believe it will begin until sometime between the beginning and the middle of 2024,” Doug Peta, chief U.S. investment strategist at BCA Research, said in a note. “Such a delay would give equities a window to rally.”
The Fed on Wednesday is scheduled to release the minutes from its meeting of Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The central bank hiked rates by 25 basis points after that meeting.
Traders will also parse through corporate earnings from retail giants Walmart and Home Depot to gauge how the consumer is doing.
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